Desktop Virtualization With Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Desktop virtualization with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a further development of server-based computing.With Terminal Servers, several users "share" an operating system environment, whereas with desktop virtualization every user is provided with an individual virtual desktop computer on one host or on several hosts (servers) in the company's computer center.

The virtual desktop computers (VDI clients) boot a master image that has been created before as snapshot from a reference computer. In the foreseeable future, companies will have a very heterogeneous IT landscape where the users will work in different working environments, some will be provided with physical computers, some with Terminal Server applications or some will work with VDI clients.

As working environments will be more complex, Ivanti DSM provides a homogenous management approach:

  • Ivanti DSM treats VDI clients just like usual managed computers.
  • No matter how the users will be provided with software, with DSM you only have to package it once. This also applies to Driver Packages and Patch Packages.
  • Policy-based management guarantees reliable statements on the compliance of your packages - across all systems.

Regardless of which VDI system you are using, Ivanti DSM will support it. Its open architecture is extendable and future-proof.

Supported VDI Systems

Currently, Ivanti DSM supports the following VDI systems:

  • VMware View 4.5
  • Citrix XenDesktop 5

Reference Computers

When you prepare a reference computer to create a master image, the DSM environment creates...

  • a master image object that contains information on the installed software and
  • a corresponding static group, called image group. The static group contains all VDI clients that use this image object.

The reference computer has to be installed with DSM OS Deployment so that the DSM environment recognizes which operating system, software packages, Driver Packages and Patch Packages have been installed on the reference computer.

Master Image and Master Image Objects

When deploying basic configurations (consisting of the operating system, settings and applications) on computers, it is helpful to create master images of a reference computer's configuration. These master images will be deployed automatically to other computers afterwards.

In the DSM Console the master images are represented by master image objects which are stored in the Image Libary folder in the Software Library. The master images represent the complete software installed on the reference computer and their compliance status.

VDI Clients

VDI clients are the virtual desktop computers that boot a master image.

In the DSM Console's Managed Users & Computers system container in the Organization Tree, you can find a static computer group - the Image Group - for every master image. The image group contains all VDI clients that boot its master image. When the DSM environment creates the master image of the reference computer, it detects the policy instances that exist for the reference computer and automatically creates policies for the found DSM packages. The policies are assigned to the image group.This means that all policy instances of the reference computer are automatically assigned to the VDI clients contained in the image groups.From that moment, you can track the compliance of every single VDI client independent of what happens to the reference computer or the master image.

Updating The VDI Clients

There are different ways of installing software, drivers and security patches on the VDI clients:

  • You can assign software packages to the individual VDI clients
  • You can update the reference computer by updating the master image; this means that you create another snapshot of the reference computer, then update the master image object in the DSM environment with the NIPrep.exe (see NIPrep.exe (NetInstall Prepare)) and finally specify that the VDI clients boot the new master image.